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Churchgoers worship and pray together during the morning service at Timberline Church. / Sean Lara/The Coloradoan

Church-goers in Fort Collins

According to the churches that responded to the Coloradoan’s request for attendance numbers, 26,125 people attend church on an average weekend in Fort Collins. Ten churches did not respond. Of those, 10.8 percent are Catholics, 17.3 percent attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and 71.9 percent attend other Christian churches. Breakdown of other Christian Churches by weekend attendance numbers: • 4.8% attend a church body of 100 or less • 30.1% people attend a church body of 100-500 • 18.6% attend a church body of 600-900 • 46.5% attend a church body of 1,000 or larger Numbers compiled and analyzed by the Coloradoan according to average weekend service attendance numbers provided by more than 50 Fort Collins congregations. An additional 10 churches contacted did not respond to the Coloradoan’s request for information.

How we compare

On a given Sunday, around 110,000 people are at megachurches in Colorado, according to past president and founding editor of American Society for Church Growth John Vaughan. A megachurch is defined as having 2,000 or more attendees. According to the Hartford Institute for Religious Research, Fort Collins has three churches that could be classified as megachurches: Faith Evangelical Free Church, Timberline Church and Vineyard Church of the Rockies. Faith and Vineyard do qualify according to how many members are registered on the roll, but do not average 2,000 at weekend services. Here’s how other Colorado cities stack up: • Cities having only one megachurch: Arvada, Aurora, Brighton, Centennial, Denver, Englewood, Golden, Grand Junction, Greeley, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Lafayette, Longmont, Niwot, Parker, Wheat Ridge • Cities having two megachurches: Littleton, Lone Tree, Loveland • Cities having more than two megachurches: Colorado Springs, which has seven listed megachurches

A band sings songs about worship with churchgoers Sunday at Timberline Church. / Sean Lara/The Coloradoan

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Thousands of Fort Collins residents each weekend forgo the city’s ever-increasing secular culture and flock to the doors of some its largest churches for a religious oasis.

Though a Gallup poll recently named Fort Collins the 15th-least religious metropolitan area in America, more than 26,125 people in the area attend church on an average weekend.

Of those, around 10.8 percent are Catholics, around 17.3 percent attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and 71.9 percent attend other Christian churches.

Nearly half of that 71.9 percent attend other Christian congregations of 1,000 or larger. And more than a quarter are congregated at one megachurch, Timberline Church, which attributes its growing numbers to a combination of relevancy and openness to meeting people “wherever they are.” A megachurch is defined by many databases as having more than 2,000 members.

“Timberline is a church that’s relevant to this community because we’re a reflection of the community,” said Mike Walker, local missions pastor at the church. “When people come in here, it doesn’t feel like they’re coming into a new world. The music, the culture, the relationship and the way we teach is very relevant to their life and lifestyle.

“We also tend not to take really strong stands on things that aren’t essential ... we’re about meeting people where they’re at.”

Fort Collins’ megachurch attendance numbers are slightly higher than the national average, according to Warren Bird, a leading researcher on “very large” churches in the United States. Though megachurches only represent half of 1 percent of the total number of churches in America — a number so minute it doesn’t show up statistically — they draw around 10 percent of the Protestant church-going population nationally, Bird said.

“The vast majority began just like every other church,” Bird said. “They were a church plant or meeting in a school and then they grew and grew and grew. In part, it’s an intentionality that they want to keep reaching out to other people. In part, it can be that as the population increases, some churches grow fast and benefit.”

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Timberline Church only had 90 people filling its pews 27 years ago when Senior Pastor Dary Northrop started with the congregation. Now the congregation, spread between three locations in Old Town, central Fort Collins and Windsor, is more than 5,000 strong.

Vineyard Church of the Rockies, which averages around 1,600 people between its three satellite-connected locations in Fort Collins and Windsor, began with only seven people in 1982. Vineyard is classified in many databases as a megachurch because it has more than 2,000 on the church roll, but does not qualify according to weekend attendance numbers.

Faith Evangelical Free Church, now averaging around 1,100 people, has expanded its building several times to accommodate a growing crowd in its 51 years of Fort Collins history. Faith also is classified in many databases as a megachurch because it has more than 2,000 on the church roll, but does not qualify according to weekend attendance numbers.

Redeemer Lutheran Church, now averaging 1,200 people on a given weekend, started with only a handful of people meeting in a small nursing home chapel.

As these four largest non-Catholic congregations in Fort Collins grew, pastors found themselves evolving to meet an ever-increasing population and need.

“Being a pastor to 21 people is very much different than being a pastor to thousands,” said Tim Runtsch, senior and founding pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church. Though Runtsch was the only staff member at the congregation when he started 23 years ago, the church now has more than 30 staff members.

A common trend among Fort Collins’ largest churches is the need to keep a very large church a small church at heart, utilizing small groups, a variety of ministry and volunteer opportunities, and a heavy emphasis on communication to unite the masses.

Timberline Church utilizes hundreds of volunteers to support the 23 pastors and 65-70 staff members at the congregation, providing members an outlet to get engaged and simultaneously allow the church to keep up with the pace of meeting the needs of more than 5,000.

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At Faith Evangelical Free Church, pastoral staff member Chris Conradson said he encourages members and newcomers alike to “plug in” to service opportunities and smaller groups of discussion.

Faith puts an emphasis on encouraging members to share their passions. Christ Clinic, a collaborative effort between Fort Collins’ churches to provide free medical care, was the dream of a doctor that attends the church and wanted to make a difference for the uninsured. By allowing members to share their passions, Conradson said the church can continue being “that light in the community to make a difference” for those in need.

“We just want to love people well,” he said. “In a church this size, people sometimes want to remain anonymous or don’t feel the need to get plugged in ... but you can’t just come on Sunday and be fulfilled. It takes more than that.”

John Vaughan, past president and founding editor of the American Society for Church Growth, said it is such mentalities that draw people to a larger congregation. By combining a largely shared experience with personal involvement, “your life is changed radically,” he said.

“These churches are an oasis in the middle of a troubled world as people raise their families and also try to have their own needs met,” Vaughan said. “When your life is changed because of that, your neighbors see it, your enemies see it and your friends see it. As a result, you become a magnet that attracts friends to that same place.”